A Forgotten Knight
by Fallen Seducer
Summary: What if things had been different, and Quistis was Rinoa's knight? What if things went wrong and she was left broken hearted, and alone...
1. Time Compression and Strawberry Perfume

Disclaimer - I don't own the characters, only the plot bunnies. The characters belong to Squaresoft; I only play with them. Set after Ultimeca's defeat, Quistis is has her license back, but will she lose it over unrequited love?  
  
Chapter one - Time Compression and Strawberry Perfume  
  
Quistis was hurt, but who could blame her. If you had traveled through time and space, doing everything in your power to save someone all for nothing, you'd be pissed too.  
  
After the SeeD ball, there was nothing. No talking in the halls, no dropping in and out of each others rooms, and not even as much as a smile. It was like it was all a show. She had been Rinoa's knight, defended her when no one else would. But now it was Squall. IHe/I was her new knight, I he/I would protect her from all the worlds evil, while Quistis was tossed away like a broken toy. But that was all over now, there was a new class of students to teach, a new Garden of SeeD's to raise.  
  
Quistis almost floated into her class. She was happy her license had been reinstated, and no one would take it from her now. Smiling, she greeted the cadets and picked up the class list to make sure everyone was in the right spot. While Trabia was being rebuilt, cadets were being trained at Balamb and it was confusing. People were turning up for the wrong classes, or in the wrong rooms, so role calls were essential. Looking down the list, her heart jumped to her throat, "Heartily, Rinoa."  
  
She looked to the front row, to find Rinoa sitting there smiling tranquilly back at her "Here, Instructor Trepe." What was Squall thinking? Did he want her to go crazy and take her license back? Quistis was fuming in the inside, but cool and calm as ever on the outside.  
  
"I had no idea you were applying to become a SeeD?"  
  
"Well after all that's happened I felt it would be logical to become a SeeD. I mean, Squall is fully supportive of me. He's so encouraging."  
  
"Commander Leonhart is supportive of ALL cadets, no matter his relationship to them!" Quistis sneered back. Rinoa couldn't spell logical, never mind act logically. Did Squall put her up to this? She would find out no matter what, and then all hell would break loose. During the lesson, she tried to avoid Rinoa's eyes. Every time Quistis glanced up, she would see her staring at her, smiling, like nothing had happened.  
  
That night, Quistis sat on her bed flicking through a photo album of all the old time. "Nothing but memories here" she thought sadly. "What if Squall had been her knight, instead of me. would things of been different?" Wiping away a tear, she thought of a conversation they had shared before Time Compression.  
  
"I'm scared Quistis, what if we never see each other again?"  
  
Taking Rinoa's hand, they jumped through one of the portals to find themselves at the Orphanage. Pulling her close, inhaling her strawberry perfume, Quistis whispered in her ear -  
  
"I'll be here."  
  
"Why?" Rinoa wrinkled her nose in thought  
  
"I'll be 'waiting' ...here"  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I'll be waiting ... for you... so" Quistis smiled  
  
"If you come here, you'll find me?" Rinoa looked hopefully  
  
"I promise" Rinoa flung her arms around Quistis, momentarily letting go to pick a flower to place behind Quistis's ear. Leaning forward, their lips met, tasting each other's soft flesh.  
  
The words echoed cruelly through Quistis mind, as the flower slipped to the floor. It was her only memory of the kiss she would ever have left. 


	2. Broken Promises

Chapter two - Broken Promises  
  
She loved her. Although she could never admit it, Quistis loved Rinoa. She would move heaven and earth for her if she thought it would help. Travelling time and being her knight apparently was not. Seeing them holding hands and talking broke her heart, for she knew it would never be her.  
  
Garden frowned on homosexuality. Students were discouraged from all sexual relationships, but everyone knew how to get around it. But this was different, she wasn't a student to get a smack on the wrist and told to behave. Quistis was the most controversial instructor. After being reinstated, time traveling, and being Rinoa's knight, there wasn't much more she could do without risking her job. Garden was all Quistis had, her family was dead, she had no other skill, and no where to go.  
  
By now, the tears couldn't be stopped. So many memories came flooding back while looking at the pictures. One in particular stung more than most. It was a fuzzy picture, but Quistis knew exactly what it was. They had been at a party, flirting with each other like they always did. Rinoa had been getting a slice of cake when Zell bumped into her in a rush for hotdogs, and the cake went everywhere. After offering to get a cloth, Rinoa had looked at her so wickedly.  
  
"Why don't you just lick it off?"  
  
As her tongue licked the cake off Rinoa's cheek, one of the guys had grabbed the camera, and in a drunken attempt to be funny, snapped. This was one of her most treasured possessions, apart from the pressed flower. There was a small tap at the door, followed by the sound of heels on tiles, which brought her snapping back to reality.  
  
"Oh hun, you're crying! What's wrong, are the new students giving you grief? You just tell me and I'll take them all on at once!" Selphie stretched herself to her full 5'2, which made Quistis smile.  
  
"It's just..."  
  
"Rinoa. You don't have to say anymore. I heard through the grapevine that Squall had put Rinoa in your class. and considering you guys have such a history, I can only guess what your feeling." Selphie gave her a sympathetic hug, and looked down at the photo album. Carefully replacing the flower, she stuck it back on the shelf, grabbed the tissues, and sat Quistis down on the couch.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about her! She's in my head all day and night, and now in my class. How can I concentrate on anything when she's sitting right in front of me, all the time and smiling like nothing has happened! Doesn't see realize how much she is hurting me?" Quistis paused.  
  
"If I could only get her on her own, get her away from Squall, I could tell her exactly what I'm feeling... maybe she feels the same but she's being repressed... maybe..." trailing off to a whisper, she glanced at Selphie hopefully.  
  
"Look, I've got Rinoa in my class tomorrow morning, lemme see if I can get her on her own. so I can send her over okay? Just promise me this, no more tears? You don't want to have bloodshot eyes for your 'date' right?" Selphie grinned at her the childish way she always did. It was comforting to Quistis, made her realize that not everyone thought she was "different" since she had admitted her feelings for Rinoa.  
  
Pulling her PJ's on, she crawled into bed and hoped to have one night of sleep without her Raven-haired princess invading her dreams. Time Compression replayed in her mind, the feeling of loss, screaming Rinoa's name into the endless darkness, only to find her holding Squall's lifeless body to her chest crying. Would she have done this for me? Backing into the darkness, Quistis found herself in the field of flowers. But this time, the orphanage had crumbled into ruins, the flowers were all wilting and dying, and a storm raged over the ocean. Dropping to her knees, screaming into the storm, clawing at the ground, looking for some shred of the last time they were there, Quistis felt she was going insane.  
  
"RINOA! WHERE ARE YOU? I'M WAITING FOR YOU. I'M HERE FOR YOU. YOU PROMISED ME. YOU PROMISED ME." Screaming into the storm did nothing but make her voice hoarse, and the tears rush faster. Out of some sort of instinct, Quistis started to run. She wasn't sure if she was running from the past, or running to something that she wasn't aware of, but instinct had taken over.  
  
"Am I running in circles, everything looks the same.will I be stuck in this horrible dimension forever?" Something silver glinted in the faint light, illuminated by the lighting flashes. Reaching down into the dying flowers, a breeze scented with strawberries ruffled her hair. She knew immediately it was Rinoa's necklace. Pulling up the chain, a locket landed in her hand. Without opening it, she knew what it would contain. On a trip to Esther, they had stopped at an instant photo booth. One side would contain a photo of her, with Rinoa and Selphie, the other, Rinoa and Quistis looking at each other and smiling. Almost as if they were in love. they were in love, but not the love Quistis needed. Not sisterly love, she needed the feeling of being someone's entire universe. Tears ran down her cheeks as she ran her finger over the locket, as time and the storm swirled around her.  
  
There was a brilliant flash, and it was all over. Quistis sat up in bed shaking, looking around at her familiar surroundings of her dorm. 


	3. The Meeting

Chapter three - The Meeting  
  
Walking down the hallway like nothing had happened, Quistis pushed her glasses up her nose and looked over her lesson plan.  
  
"Uhhh, Instructor Trepe. I have a few questions from Instructor Tilmit's class, and I was wondering if you could help me?"  
  
Quistis turned and looked right into Rinoa's coffee brown eyes. Staring into those eyes made Quistis's heart beat a little faster, and she was sure Rinoa could hear it thumping away, but she showed no outward sign of anything out of order.  
  
"I'm sorry, but if you have a problem from her class, it would be best to ask Instructor Tilmit to help you." As she started to turn away, Quistis felt the softest of touches on her upper arm.  
  
"But I would really appreciate it if you could help me out. you always seems to make things so clear. I think it's your voice, I could listen to it all day long." Rinoa let the last few words draw out, looking right into Quistis's eyes with the slightest hint of seduction. "Please, I can't afford to fail this class, and it will only take a few minutes... please... for me?" The words embedded themselves into her subconscious. for me. Quistis would do anything for Rinoa and she knew it.  
  
"I can spare you a few minutes, but then we both have to be in class. What do you need?" Letting out a small sigh, she gave Rinoa her full attention.  
  
"We can't talk about it here, meet me in the Secret Area in 5 minutes" and without another word, Rinoa turned on her heels and headed back down the corridor. Entering her key-code to the classroom, Quistis dumped her bag and files on the desk and headed for the Training Center. Glancing at her watch, she saw that the center should be full of people from Squall's elite training program. But strangely it was silent, not even a Grat could be heard in the background. Things were getting stranger and stranger, but staying on guard, she made her way to the Secret Area.  
  
Normally out of bounds to other students and faculty, Quistis glanced over her shoulder and slipped inside. Sure enough, Rinoa was waiting there for her.  
  
"So what did you need help with?" Looking about the floor, she saw no books or sheets, not even Rinoa's satchel. Frowning slightly, Quistis glared at Rinoa.  
  
"Is this some sort of joke, calling me out of class preparation for some mystery trip, for a class you supposedly need help with? I don't remember you being in any of Selphie's classes?"  
  
"So you caught me out. Your right, I don't have any classes with Instructor Tilmit. But, she did call me aside and spoke to me, if you could call it that. More like yelling at me until Irvine dragged her away kicking and screaming. Now in the future, if you have a problem with me, could you please come to me about it? It's much more mature than having your little friends coming around, bashing down my door, then yelling at me for being a heartless bitch!" Rinoa spat out the last word like it was poison. Something came over Quistis, something like never before. All she had ever felt for Rinoa was love, and this was far from it. The crack of skin against skin echoed around the empty area as Quistis's hand made contact with Rinoa's cheek.  
  
"How dare you! If anyone should be called heartless, it would be you. After everything I did for you, defended your honor from everyone, protected you from evil, I even risked my life for you. you have the nerve to call me heartless. I was your knight, I would have sacrificed my life for yours in an instant. I kept my promise. I was there for you in that field, screaming my lungs out looking for you, to find you where?"  
  
Rinoa was looking scared by this point, backing slowly towards the wall, trying to inch around to the door. Quistis cut her off and glared at her, watching as tears formed in Rinoa's eyes.  
  
"Let me tell you where you were. you were searching for Squall. You couldn't have cared less what had happened to me. I could still be lost in time for all you fucking care. I always wondered why they called you 'Princess', and now I know why. No one else could be as spoilt, pretentious, or such a daddy's girl than you. All you need do if pout and the world drops to the knees, rushing to fulfill your every whim. You don't care whose fingers you step on, as long as you get your way on the end. Well I personally think it's about time someone gives you a reality check, and it's not going to be pleasant." 


End file.
